This week: we’ve canceled our MacBook Pro order! It’s true, and we’ll you why... Plus: we compare new MacBook Pro’s performance to older models and similarly priced machines; Apple call it quits on external displays; and, the end of an era—one of Mac’s most iconic features gets retired.

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Funny enough, Phil Schiller noted the new MacBook Pro still has a 3.5mm headphone jack because it is a "pro machine," but lacks an SD card reader because it's a "cumbersome" slot best left to adapters or wireless transfers.

Take into account the $400-$500 price increases, it’s hard to get on board.

The KGI Securities analyst told investors in a recent note that he expects Apple will bring big price-cuts to the MacBook Pro along with some internal upgrades. Kuo also claims the 2017 update will finally give the MacBook Pro up to 32GB of RAM.

KabyLake CPUs will be used if Intel’s Cannonlake chips aren’t ready. That will keep max RAM support at 16GB for another year.

Price cuts on the next MacBook Pro won’t arrive until the second half of 2017 though.

The days of Apple making its own stand-alone displays for the Mac Mini and Mac Pro are dead.

Apple revealed a new 5K 27-inch Thunderbolt 3 display during its “Hello Again” keynote yesterday, only instead of being made by Apple, the company partnered with LG to create the monito

The Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel tweeted that, after asking about it at the Hello Again event, was informed by Apple that “it’s out of the stand-alone display biz.”

Apple did add some tech to LG’s display so that it integrates better with Macs. You can adjust the brightness settings on the LG 5K UltraFine display from your Mac, rather than pushing buttons on the display itself.

The new MacBook Pro jettisons the iconic F-sharp sound Apple uses to show a Mac is booting up.

The use of an arpeggiated chord when you started your Mac dates back to the Macintosh II, when software engineer Mark Lentczner incorporated it into the system.

The sound was later revised by Jim Reekes, Apple’s senior software engineer in charge of the audio and system sounds, during the 1990s. Over the years, its tone has changed further and the instrumentation has also varied,

The reason for getting rid of the sound instead has to do with the fact that the new laptops now turn on from a fully switched-off mode if they’re opened — meaning you can save all that energy you would otherwise have expended pressing the power button.

The new MacBook Pro won’t ship for another 2-3 weeks, but members of the media who got their fingers on the new Touch Bar came away from Apple’s event with rave reviews.

Techcrunch: The Touch Bar is, in a word, neat…The strip itself is glossy. Not quite slick, but frictionless enough so as to run a finger across with little effort. It’s quick and responsive, reacting to multi-touch and the amount of pressure the user applies. It also adapts quite quickly as you toggle between different apps.”

Apple revealed its plan to own your TV screen today with a new app called TV. The new service aims to unify your TV experience on iPhone, iPad and Apple TV by taking you straight to content, but the two best streaming services won’t be available.

Both Amazon Prime Video and Netflix won’t participate in Apple’s new feature.

Netflix confirmed "we are not participating and evaluating the opportunity”

This week: is Apple is about to make massive updates across the entire Mac line? Don’t miss our Oct. 27 Mac event predictions! Plus: everything we know about Nintendo Switch, and why we already love it.

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The machines are expected to be updated with USB-C support, according to a new Bloomberg report.

Updated internals for sure.

Retina display is possible but may not happen since this is now Apple’s budget machine.

According to Macotakara, no more 11 inch.

Macbook

Nuthin - The MacBook was updated with Intel Skylake processors and a new Rose Gold color option in April of 2016.

iMac

374 days since its last update, with an average of 317.

We haven’t heard a peep about updates.

Likely just updated internals, but possibility of larger screen with curved display.

Mac Pro

1037 days since since the Mac Pro released. No updates since.

Average update is 449 days.

Major internal updates expected with possibly design overhaul.

Mac Mini

No rumors.

735 days since last update, average is 438.

We’re expecting internal updates, but that’s probably it.

New Cinema Display

In June of 2016 the Cinema display was officially discontinued.

There have been rumors of a new ‘Thunderbolt Display’ that will feature a 5K display and an external GPU in the display itself so under-powered Macs can still run it.

A Magic Trackpad 2 with multi-touch and Force Touch was announced on October 13, 2015 along with the Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Keyboard, so probably no updates. It’s possible we get an updated Magic Keyboard with OLED display bar.

This week: tips, tricks, and techniques to take beautiful iPhone photos and build a following on Instagram. Plus: the crazy exploding Samsung Galaxy Note saga ends in a strange twist; rumors point to Macs with radically new e-ink keyboards; and an honest look at Siri vs. the AI competition.

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If you bought your Note online from Samsung,returning it could be tricky. In the United Kingdom, the Post Office won’t even accept packages that contain the device.

Fortunately, Samsung has a solution. Its special Note 7 return kit was designed with explosions in mind, and it includes thermally-insulated packaging with a ceramic fiber paper lining, and gloves that ensure you won’t suffer burns while handling the device.

This week: revamped iPads coming this spring; Apple lays the groundwork for the next era of personal technology; how smart homes get hacked; Google’s Pixel phone vs. iPhone 7; and we reveal our favorite new iOS and Mac apps!

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Southwest Airlines was forced to evacuate a flight from Louisville to Baltimore this morning before it hit the runway, thanks to a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone that caught fire.

The owner of the Galaxy Note 7 said he got the new phone on September 21st at an AT&T store. Before the flight left the gate, the owner says he powered it down and put it in his pocket when it started smoking.

Thick grey-green smoke poured out of the device after the owner dropped it on the floor. In a matter of moments it had burned through the plane’s carpet.

“All passengers and crew exited the plane via the main cabin door and no injuries were reported,”

During an event in San Francisco today, Google unveiled a new Wi-Fi router, an improved Chromecast with 4K support, and a new Google Home device that’s a lot like Amazon’s Echo smart speaker, only it’s powered by Google Assistant.

Google Home allows owners to use voice commands to do stuff like play music on YouTube, Google Play Music or Spotify. You can also ask Google Home to play podcasts or news feeds.

Apple is set to debut a trifecta of new iPad Pro models in Q1 2017, according to a new report

Mac Okatara suggests that the 12.9-inch and 7.9-inch iPad Pros will get the same 12MP iSight camera and True Tone technology that the 9.7-inch iPad Pro currently has. All three models will also supposedly receive quad microphones and, in something of a pleasant surprise, 3.5mm headphone jacks.

If Apple’s yearly product cycle wasn’t enough of a hint that a new iPad was on the way, Apple’s iPad Pro tablets both received discounts of up to $100 after Apple’s iPhone 7 media event last month. This announcement coincided with a storage upgrade for other iPad models.

This week: reports point to a big Mac event coming in October! We’ll tell you why we expect more than just overhauled MacBook Pros... Plus: we remember Steve Jobs, and what made him so damned good; why the jet black iPhone 7 is impossible to find; and stay tuned for drone chat, where we discuss the super cool new drones hitting the market.

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MacRumors has reported that Apple is moving rapidly toward a launch of the new MacBook Pro models, with current development work on macOS 10.12.1 focused largely on preparing the operating system to support the updated hardware's new features

Apple hasn’t made a significant update to the MacBook Pro lineup since May 2015

According to MacRumors‘ report, Apple is just waiting for development of macOS 10.12.1 to finish so it can support the updated hardware’s new features. Apple is supposedly planning to seed one more beta version of macOS 10.12.1 early next week. That version will then be polished and loaded onto hardware currently being produced.

rumored by several sources to include Touch ID support and an OLED "touch bar" replacing the current row of function keys across the top of keyboard. Apple is also said to be shifting to "Polaris" graphics chips from AMD on the higher-end 15-inch models.

This week: seven days with iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 2—we’ll tell you what we love (and don’t) about Apple’s newest iPhone and Watch. Plus: Hissgate, explained; auto-unlocking your Mac with an Apple Watch; and if you’re wondering how to use picture-in-picture mode on Youtube videos in macOS Sierra, we’ll reveal just how to get it working.

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Apple’s new LCD display was rated as “visually indistinguishable from perfect” when it comes to image contrast and intensity. The tiniest amount of color variation, seen when viewing the screen from an angle, also yielded top marks.

The DisplayMate report calls the touchscreen display the “crown jewel of the smartphone”

One thing that gives the iPhone 7 display a competitive advantage is its adoption of two standard color gamuts: The new DCI-P3 wide color gamut used in 4K UHD TVs, and the smaller sRGB/Rec.709 gamut traditionally used in digital cameras, TVs, computers and most other consumer devices.

The test also found that the iPhone 7’s peak brightness can only be achieved when Automatic Brightness is turned on. This prevents users from draining their battery in a flash by accidentally keeping the slider all the way up.

For the past 16 months, Apple’s wearable and I have had an on-again, off-again relationship.

Apple Watch Series 2 is supposed to be wicked fast at this, but there’s just one problem. The device’s screen never shows “GPS” or another indicator to prove it’s connected. You just have to take it on faith that there’s a connection behind the scenes.

It still can’t track your elevation. There’s a huge difference in difficulty between running 5 miles on flat roads verses 5 miles with a 2,000-foot elevation gain.

The only way to get your elevation data is to pack your iPhone along for the ride.

This watch is screaming fast.

I didn’t notice any major gains in battery life, so it’s likely that all the extra juice is being used to power the new GPS chip and display.

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We’ll have to wait until October to get our hands on Apple’s new wireless AirPods, but select reviewers have been granted early access to help us decide whether they’re worth their $159 price tag.

Impressions

“There’s nothing to break or tangle, nothing to plug in, nothing to get caught on a stranger’s backpack on the train every freaking day. Just sweet aural freedom.” “sit in my ears, actually better than EarPods, and remained in place even while running” David Pierce at Wired

Chris Velazco of Engadget writes that he’s “stunned Apple squeezed as much tech into the AirPods as they did.”

Sound

Most reviewers concluded that AirPods sound almost exactly like EarPods.

Engadget review. “In general, the AirPods gave mids a little more meat than EarPods did, and drum fills felt crisper and more precise. My test tracks… came across warmer than I would have expected.”

Another review wrote “I’m no audiophile, but to me, the AirPods sound nearly identical to Apple’s wired EarPods.”

Siri

“Having Siri two taps away isn’t just the best thing about the AirPods. It’s the reason they exist,” writes David Pierce. “It’s easy to imagine Apple making the AirPods the centerpiece of how you interact with all your devices, particularly as Siri becomes more important.”

“Consider this the first step towards a future where we no longer have to stare at a screen to get things done,” adds Business Insider. “Siri… can always be there, responding to your queries by buzzing in your ear, almost like in the movie “Her.”

This episode: our iPhone 7 event reactions! iPhone 7, AirPods, the new Apple Watch—we’ll cover everything Apple announced this week, and tell you what we like, what we don’t, and what we’ll be spending our own hard-earned monies on. Plus: Nintendo's big move into iOS, and how to lock down the exact iPhone you want when the pre-orders go live..

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This week: what new hardware will Apple bestow upon us at the iPhone 7 event next week? Don’t miss our predictions! Plus: new video shows iPhone 7 Plus in the wild; and we explain Apple’s Irish tax woes, then argue about it.

Apple just sent out press invitation to a special event to be held September 7 at 10 a.m. Pacific. The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are expected to be unveiled at the event.

A dual-lens camera on the iPhone 7 Plus could be the most groundbreaking new feature added this year. Other additions are likely to include a new pressure-sensitive Touch ID button, a faster A10 processor, an improved camera on the iPhone 7 Plus, and a new casing with fewer antenna lines. The iPhone 7 will also boast faster LTE, a bigger battery and more.

Notorious Apple leaker Sonny Dickson posted a short video of the three plus-size iPhones this morning, confirming many of the rumors that have claimed this year’s update won’t contain any huge design changes.

The back of the iPhone 7 Plus in Dickson’s video reveals that the device will indeed come with a highly anticipated dual-lens camera, though it won’t pick up a Smart Connector

Tim Cook: Apple’s tax bill will have a ‘harmful’ effect on investment in EU

The European Union recently ruled that Apple owes €13 billion ($14.52 billion) in back taxes

Cook also states that suggestions Apple has an illegal sweetheart deal in Ireland, “has no basis in fact or in law,” confirms Apple will appeal the European Commission’s ruling

The Irish government has said it is happy with its tax arrangement with Apple and doesn’t want the money.

Ireland’s finance ministry has sided with Apple, and said it “disagrees profoundly” with the decision.

The European Commission's issue is really not with Apple but with Ireland.

The commission is not a tax authority; instead, its job is to maintain fairness between the EU member states.

Countries are able to set their own tax rates, but country can’t offer something special that's seen as benefiting an individual company.

In 1991, Ireland (who’s economy was struggling) signed off on a plan in which Apple would move money to a stateless "head office”.

"Apple entered into a deal with Ireland to not pay tax on all those profits,” and Apple paid "an arbitrarily small amount to Ireland in return for a promise to keep jobs in Ireland.” (The kept 6000 there.)

Low corporate tax was one way Ireland improved its economy and attracted big companies, and Apple was one of the early companies to benefit.